Necro Deathmort live up to their expectations once again by delivering an EP that defies classification. With their previous releases shifting from bleak dubstep, crushing doom metal, deep drones, industrial, techno and other forms of electronica they are one of the, in my eyes at least, very few acts that succesfully incorporate electronic music into extreme metal. Or maybe it's the other way around and they're an electronic act that incorporate metal in their music..

Because with this, their third EP after their third full length (2012's The Colonial Script) the metal is pushed so far to the background that it is barely even there. No, let me rephrase that: apart from the overall darker atmosphere, the metal factor is practically non-existent. Does that mean that the average metalhead should steer clear of this one? Well, if you only liked Necro Deathmort for their mix of metal and electronica then, yes, probably. Your loss though.. However, if that adventurous, never-know-what-you-can-expect sound is what attracted you in previous Necro Deathmort releases then there is no way you should miss out on this.

I have to say I raised my eyebrows at the first listen because I certainly wasn't expecting this kosmische, krauty mix between Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Add N to (X), Vangelis and dark techno. Good thing then that I absolutely love krautrock and kosmische and I'm really starting to get into the recent darker wave of nihilist techno like Silent Servant, Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement, Akkord, Basic House, recent Prurient etc.., of which this EP is sure to please fans of as well.

Opener 'Sedan' starts the EP off with dark swooping synths, propulsive krautrock-y drums and Krafwerk-y vocoded vocals. Brilliant off-kilter dancemusic and definitely another one for 'Bjorn's Dancefloor Mixtape'. 'Holy Prism' takes the foot off the gaspedal and treats us to yet again some great vocoded vocals, this time accompanied by arpeggio-ed (analogue?) synths and some spaced-out kosmische ambient. Klaus Schulze would approve of this for sure. 'Quandary' is where the more punky techno side comes to the foreground and yet again this is sure to please the dancefloor in dark, sweaty underground clubs. The rest of the EP continues to amaze with NDM's flawless mix of 'retro' (for lack of a better word) worship and forward-thinking dark electronica.

So, all in all another excellent NDM release, absolutely essential if you are into any of the acts that I mentioned during the review. And a no-brainer if you are a fan of their previous releases. Housed in a striking sleeve with some very nice minimal artwork, this 12" is sure to make it's way to my favorites of the year list.. Yes, already. Now all I need is to finally see them live some day. I'm pretty sure that will be an awesome experience...